Seong-Hi Park; Chang-Bum Kang; Seon Young Jang; Bo Yeon Kim

doi:10.4040/jkan.2013.43.3.420

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Original Article
Effect of Kegel Exercise to Prevent Urinary and Fecal Incontinence in Antenatal and Postnatal Women: Systematic Review: Seong-Hi Park, Chang-Bum Kang, Seon Young Jang, Bo Yeon Kim; Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing 2013;43(3):420-430.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2013.43.3.420
Published online: June 28, 2013

¹School of Nursing, Pai Chai University, Daejeon, Korea.

²Research Development Team, Korea Health Promotion Foundation, Seoul, Korea.

³Office of Quality Improvement, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea.

⁴Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, Seoul, Korea.

Address reprint requests to: Park, Seong-Hi. School of Nursing, Pai Chai University, 155-40, Baejae-ro, Seo-gu, Daejeon 302-735, Korea. Tel: +82-42-520-5104, Fax: +82-70-4362-6291, shpark@pcu.ac.kr

• Received: January 23, 2013 • Accepted: May 17, 2013

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Abstract
REFERENCES

Abstract

Purpose
The aim of this study was to review the literature to determine whether intensive pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy and after delivery could prevent urinary and fecal incontinence.
Methods
Randomized controlled trials (RCT) of low-risk obstetric populations who had done Kegel exercise during pregnancy and after delivery met the inclusion criteria. Articles published between 1966 and 2012 from periodicals indexed in Ovid Medline, Embase, Scopus, KoreaMed, NDSL and other databases were selected, using the following keywords: 'Kegel, pelvic floor exercise'. The Cochrane's Risk of Bias was applied to assess the internal validity of the RCT. Fourteen selected studies were analyzed by meta-analysis using RevMan 5.1.
Results
Fourteen RCTs with high methodological quality, involving 6,454 women were included. They indicated that Kegel exercise significantly reduced the development of urinary and fecal incontinence from pregnancy to postpartum. Also, there was low clinical heterogeneity.
Conclusion
There is some evidence that for antenatal and postnatal women, Kegel exercise can prevent urinary and fecal incontinence. Therefore, a priority task is to develop standardized Kegel exercise programs for Korean pregnant and postpartum women and make efficient use of these programs.
Keywords: Urinary incontinence; Fecal incontinence; Meta-analysis; Pelvic floor muscle training

REFERENCES

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Figure 1

Flow diagram of article selection.

Figure 2

Comparison outcomes of Kegel exercise versus control.

Table 1

Characteristics of Selected Studies

Exp.=Experimental group; Cont.=Control group; UI=Urinary incontinence; FI=Fecal incontince; Y=Yes; Others 1=Pad test; Others 2=Pelvic floor muscle strength.

Figure & Data

REFERENCES

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Effect of Kegel Exercise to Prevent Urinary and Fecal Incontinence in Antenatal and Postnatal Women: Systematic Review

J Korean Acad Nurs. 2013;43(3):420-430. Published online June 28, 2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4040/jkan.2013.43.3.420

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Effect of Kegel Exercise to Prevent Urinary and Fecal Incontinence in Antenatal and Postnatal Women: Systematic Review

Figure 1 Flow diagram of article selection.

Figure 2 Comparison outcomes of Kegel exercise versus control.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Effect of Kegel Exercise to Prevent Urinary and Fecal Incontinence in Antenatal and Postnatal Women: Systematic Review

Table 1

Characteristics of Selected Studies

Exp.=Experimental group; Cont.=Control group; UI=Urinary incontinence; FI=Fecal incontince; Y=Yes; Others 1=Pad test; Others 2=Pelvic floor muscle strength.

Table 1 Characteristics of Selected Studies

Exp.=Experimental group; Cont.=Control group; UI=Urinary incontinence; FI=Fecal incontince; Y=Yes; Others 1=Pad test; Others 2=Pelvic floor muscle strength.